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Someone once told me that you couldn't
ask a student to write about what a poem, or any work of literature, means.
Why not? Meaning is something which a person takes away from a work of
art and therefore it can be intensely personal. It can also determine if
a person deems the work of art to be successful or not. This is the
handout to introduce the concept.
This is the poetry assignment where each student
gets to explain what a poem of his or her choosing means to him, or her.
The student should analyze the meaning on the basis of the five questions
and make some definitive statements about the poem. It can be a song in
which case the playing of the song will be part of the presentation. Tell
the students to NOT pick a poem with overwhelming negative connotations
such as a favourite relative's pick for what to recite at the funeral after
his death. I have had a student break down in tears in front of the class
while analyzing a Garth Brook's song that related to cancer, of which the
student's mother died.
Here is an independent novel study that takes
into account every difference in ability in your class. Each student picks
his or her own novel and does any number of assignments that up to 50 marks.
They can do two twenty mark and one ten mark assignments or any other combination.
The assignments are a mix of creative and applied writing and art activities.
If a student earns more than 50 marks give him or her the marks as a bonus
-- however, put a limit on how many bonus marks a student can get or you
will be marking assignments by the truckload. This was used in a de-streamed
Grade 9 class.
Another Independent Novel Study -- Intermediate
This is an older version of the independent
study detailed above. It is also much more suitable for students who require
directed study rather than the more independent and wide-ranging type outlined
above. It has been used in Grade 9 right through Grade 11 with good results.
Set your due dates, if you have fixed dates, to allow enough time depending
on the mix of class time and homework.
Independent Study with an "exhibition" component
Lori Koplik of Barrington, Rhode Island,
submitted this lesson. She says that "the results are very impressive,
and the students revel in the ownership they have over their course of
study. Everyone loves seeing the final exhibitions...so much so that they
invite their friends and other teachers to see them during the last two
weeks of school." This unit is suitable for most grades. There is a proposal
sheet attached to the end of the handout.
Semi-Independent Novel Study -- Grade 11
How do you teach a
novel without those fifteen pages of questions that have to be taken up
in lock-step and that hardly any of the less motivated students ever do?
This exercise uses LORD OF THE FLIES and goes along with your lessons
on how to write an essay and also incorporates writing skills and creativity
and each student can progress at a pace more in keeping with his or her
activities (although there are still deadlines). Give quizzes on sections
of the novel if you want to make sure that they are keeping a reasonable
level of progress in their reading of the novel. Use this as a guide for
doing any other novel. As I was looking through a collection of students'
work generated by this unit, I noticed that many of the students got really
creative. One wrote Piggy's diary using a burnt stick and old paper (all
that he could find) and another student presented the outline for the novel
as a musical, complete with basic stage directions, a list of songs and
the lyrics.
Flimibuff -- Lord of the Flies Project
Lori Koplik, who teaches English at Barrington High School in Barrington, Rhode Island has sent in Flimibuff, which she found at the ERIC site and highly recommends. It is a really interesting concept for Lord of the Flies. A teacher once said that "every year, the former freshman honors students ask when I'm doing Flimibuff. It's become almost like a secret handshake: anyone who knows about Flimibuff is a legitimate graduate." With a reference like that, how can you not take a look? Although Lori does not take full credit for the lesson, I have included her very detailed rationale, origins of the lesson, and instructions at the beginning of the handout.
Take a look at Lori's Hamlet Dramatization
activity as well!
Lord of the Flies -- question sheets and answers
Aaron Bristol teaches at the Shelterwood School in Branson, MO. which is a Christian residential care facility. He uses these question sheets to guide his students through the novel and check on their progress as they work on the novel in an independent study environment. Each sheet included here has an accompanying answer sheet to help you. Aaron can be reached at AaronPatty@aol.com.
This lesson involves a review of a movie or a play
and has group work and peer evaluation; a peer response sheet is included.
The lesson was devised by Marc Zimmerman who teaches at Bristol Eastern
High School in Bristol, Connecticut. Marc also has a High School
English Lesson Plans Page which, besides lessons, has some good ideas for
getting started at the beginning of the year. Just click HERE
to visit his web site or you can e-mail him at MEZIM@aol.com
Visual Assignment on Relationships -- Intermediate
Growing Up Portfolio Assignment
This is a comprehensive portfolio assignment which is based on the growing
up theme. Cyndy Reidy, who teaches at Palliser Heights School in Moose
Jaw, Saskatchewan says that "this assignment was based on the need to provide
for the focus of on-going evaluation and the need to offer students choices
for creativity in order to show comprehension". It is a very large and
adaptable project. Cyndy can be reached at GPReidy@sk.sympatico.ca
If you want a very
comprehensive, demanding and creative independent study for a secondary
class, this is the place to look. Erin Thaler teaches at Sprayberry High
School in Marietta, Georgia and has submitted a huge novel study
complete with a bibliographic exercise, writing assignments, and the test
has even been added to help you out further. I found the exercises
very demanding (but that's me) but very easy to adapt to a class.
Erin also has a web site with more lessons of interest and many links.
You can link to the site at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1298
or
e-mail Erin at drthaler@bellsouth.net
Reading Group Tasks -- Intermediate
The term "tasks" seems much too harsh for these
varied and creative writing assignments which are designed to "keep students
on-task while they are in reading groups by giving them responsibilities
on which they will report to the group when they meet together."
The whole set was submitted by Marsha Serafin who teaches English at the
San Diego Academy in the city on the bay. She can be reached at serafat@telis.org
Interactive Approach to The Scarlet Letter -- Intermediate
The Scarlet Letter can be
a very difficult novel to teach because of its language, time period and
plot. However, Joe Mason, who teaches at the Academy High and Middle
School in Tucson, Arizona, has tried to make the teaching of the
novel more interesting through the use of poetry, diaries, and presentations.
This lesson includes one of the poems that is used as well as a great deal
of Joe's comments about the material and how to use it. Joe can be reached
at joe-mason@usa.net
"Let's look at some examples of literature
as types of biology specimens." That's how Erin Thaler, who submitted the
lesson right above, begins this lesson which combines the science lab and
the English class. The lesson involves several web pages and so I
have put the link here. Just click on the title above or right HERE.
Hyper-Text, Fiction and Reader Writer Interaction
Chris Lehmann is a teacher
at the Beacon School in NYC which has as its focus a true inter-disciplinary
approach to teaching students the skills that they will need in the next
century. This lesson is just one example of such a lesson. In this
project, "students, in groups, create a piece of "hyper-fiction", a piece
of fiction (or a poem) where students break down the linear structure of
the narrative by linking out from the story." The link above will take
you to the page for a full description and two worksheets; some of the
other links there will take you to the Beacon English Page. You can also
find a link to more of Chris' work in the Links
section. Chris can be reached at clehmann@beaconschool.org
In the Heat of the Night Novel Project
This is a stepped set
of assignments which invites students to shoot at different levels of achievement
based upon how far they venture in the list of assignments. It was submitted
by a fellow Canadian, Lorne Warwick, who teaches English at Ancaster High
and Vocational School in Ancaster, Ontario, (that explains the name of
the school) which is just outside of Hamilton. The lessons are adaptable
for a number of other novels and if you want to comment or ask Lorne anything
just e-mail him at lorne.warwick@hwcn.org
Fahrenheit 451 -- Summer Reading Assignment -- Gr. 11
I have often thought of assigning reading over the
summer holidays for students entering English in the fall. I always backed
off of the idea; however, Ruth Ross and her colleagues at Chatham High
School in Chatham, New Jersey, have taken such an approach. Over
the summer the 10th graders will read The Crucible; the 11th graders
will read Fahrenheit 451; and the 12th graders will read Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All levels! Even if you just want to use the lesson
ideas during the regular school year, this handout has excellent assignments,
discussion topics, web sites, and additional reading to explore the novel.
You can contact Ruth at evieross@home.com
Utopian/Dystopian Literature Study -- Senior
The
ideal of the perfect society has eluded mankind since time began, or so
it seems. One person's paradise is another's Devil's Island.
Brenda Kukla of Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia has developed
a detailed independent study unit using this theme. She says that "this
is my favorite unit to teach because it is so student-directed, and we
have such deep discussions." Take a look; Brenda can be reached at
bgkbear@aol.com
Rene Schofield at Westmont
High School in Campbell, California uses these assignments in her Senior
British Literature course. The students have the option of selecting
assignments to complete for extra credits. You could use the entire
handout or even incorporate some of the assignments into an independent
literature study.
Alanis Morissette -- Connotation and Denotation
This is a challenging writing
assignment from Rene (see above) and is also listed on the the Poetry
Page (go there next) and uses the song "You Learn" by Canadian
superstar Alanis Morissette. You can use it as a poetry lesson, a
writing assignment, or preferably, both. It's suitable for most secondary
grades, depending on the abilities of your students.
Science and Technology-- Monsters We Have Created
This is another lesson from
Lorne Warwick. Lorne says that he uses the lesson after studying Hawthorne's
"The Birthmark" or Shelley's "Frankenstein". However, I think that it would
be an extremely educational follow-up to any unit involving science fiction
or modern problems. I have included Lorne's instructions for the lesson,
his handout for the class as well as a list of brainstorming terms. As
a teacher-librarian, I can also visualize this as a very effective instrument
for teaching or refining library research skills. You can contact Lorne
at the e-mail address above.
Fifth Business -- Themes and Quotes for Analysis
Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies,
is one of the greatest novels ever written by a Canadian, and one of the
best in the world. Of course, this is just my humble opinion. Nevertheless,
the novel is taught in numerous Canadian high schools, some universities,
and should be taught in high schools all over the world. It is a complex
novel that involves serious themes interwoven with a delightful, utterly
fascinating story and a serious amount of Jungian psychology. I used this
sheet near the end of the study as a group activity. This handout is useful
if you are not sure what some of the themes are and/or you need some quotes
to build the themes around. Refer to the Hamlet and Jung
activity
below for more information.
When your students have finished doing all of the group work and questions, you'll want to see how well they have understood the "big picture" or major themes of the novel. The best way to do this is through analyzing "intensely significant" quotations from the novel. Here are two handouts on popular novels; the quotations can be assigned or grouped for group work (each group does three or four). The page numbers are, of course, approximate depending on the publication that you are using.
The Miracle Worker Trust Walk -- Grade 9
Winnie Wickstrom’s classes
at Parry McCluer High School in Buena Vista, Virginia, have a novel
and very appealing follow-up to their study of The Miracle Worker.
The students participate in a Trust Walk wherein they simulate what it
would be like to be blind. You can download the writing activity
sheet and see and read about the entire exercise at The
Trust Walk page of Parry McCluer's web site. While you're there,
check out the other creative activities that Winnie has developed; it's
well worth the visit. Winnie is at winniepooh@rockbridge.net
This lesson is a very nice book
project for a grade eight class, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't
use it in almost any Intermediate class. The great part is that it combines
creativity along with comprehension and analysis which is an important
blending of skills. The creator of the lesson is Lynn Ouelette who
teaches 8th Grade Language Arts at Jay Middle School in Jay, Maine (USA).
Lynn uses her lessons in 90 minute periods !! (and I thought 76 minutes
was long ). Soon her Grades 6 to 8 school will become a Grades 5 to 8 in
a new building. You can reach her at douel@megalink.net
Novel Newsletter Assignment -- Grade Eight
Lynn Ouelette has supplied another
novel study that she has used with her Grade Eight class. This is a long-term
assignment for middle school students who often need a set of instructions.
The assignment handout actually supplies the students with the framework
for organizing the assignment. You can contact Lynn to get
more information (or praise her) at douel@megalink.net
Book Chat -- book activity for pairs
Lori
Koplik, of Barrington High School in Rhode Island, has a devised a book
chat assignment . She writes that "I've done the Book Chats twice now.
While the students are allowed to choose the novel, it is helpful if they
are paired up so that their choices have something in common -- for example,
two war stories, two mysteries, two coming-of-age stories, etc. The kids
get very excited when they find similarities between two very different
stories, though. I like this assignment because the students need practice
listening and taking notes! A fellow teacher does "Buddy Books", in which
students pair off and read the same book, sharing a journal between them.
I've been meaning to try that one, too. which involves students in comparing
and analyzing novels in pairs. This has tremendous potential for developing
the skills of analysis and integration while fostering valuable work skills
within the classroom. You will find other lessons by Lori on this site
and they all have tremendous group skills linked with solid academic skills.
Biography/Autobiography Book Report
Let a student become a psychologist
and diagnose a novel's main character. That's one activity in this lesson
submitted by Lori Koplik.
This is a tremendous activity for engaging
your students in role playing, history, research, analysis, presentation
skills and, well the list goes on. It will also require effort and planning
on your part but the results should be rewarding. The lesson is an adaptation
by Sandra Comeaux of Westlake High School in Westlake, Louisiana, in Calcasieu
Parish. Sandra says that "I use the lesson in my twelfth grade college
preparatory class during the study of the Victorian Age. I felt that the
students would enjoy the research of their authors more if they actually
"became "this author for the tea party. The lesson could be adapted in
American ( or Canadian) literature with a different list of authors, or
the research could be a collaborative project between English and history
classes in any time period". If you need any more information, contact
Sandra at scomeaux@hal.calc.k12.la.us
This lesson is very much like one of
the creative novel independent assignments, but it involves short stories.
I don't know if the short story is a neglected genre, but this is one of
the few independent study projects that I have seen for short stories.
You could even use a short story assignment to introduce the work of many
novelists and then if a student likes a short story, well then he or she
can go on to read a novel by the same author. The lesson was submitted
by Lori Koplik, who also sent in several other lessons, including the two
above this one.
Language Change -- Pre-Shakespeare Study
If your students hate Shakespeare because they don't
understand the language, then maybe you should acquaint them with language
change. This exercise is good for raising their consciousness about how
weird we will sound in a couple of hundred of years. Yet will the movie
SPEED be any less of a good movie in two hundred years just because the
language and society have changed? Will we find it awful that future societies
laugh at our old fashioned language? Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet are still
dynamite plots hidden by the language. Remember "groovy"?
This is another introduction to what it was
like in Shakespeare's society. This one involves the crude state of dentistry.
You can expand this by taking a survey on how many students have had either
an infection requiring antibiotics, or measles, or chicken pox, or have
had their tonsils removed, etc. Needless to say, in Elizabethan times,
none of these students would have survived until they were their present
ages, which probably explains why so many of the plays have dads
trying to marry off their kids at such young ages. If you want to pursue
this area further, there is an excellent web site which discusses most
of the aspects of medieval society. If you have a friend who has
the plague, or you are interested, it even has an interactive section where
you use medieval methods to try to cure some common ailments of the middle
ages. It's at http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/townlife.html
Hamlet
and C.G. Jung
Actually you can use a simplified
version of Jung's theories to analyze characters in most novels or plays.
Of course the characters have to be somewhat developed and believable.
Try this approach to Romeo and Juliet and you'll see that Juliet is a finely
rounded character with a lot more depth than your usual teenage heroine.
This works really well with Robertson Davies' Fifth Business
and Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel.
If you are looking for a creative
but analytical way to get your students to understand the basic concepts
of Hamlet, this may be the lesson for you. This is another lesson from
Lori Koplik of Barrington High School in Barrington, Rhode Island. It is
not your usual drama activity and includes improvisation as well as developing
group and individual skills. You can also look at Lori's Flimibuff
lesson
for The Lord of the Flies to see the same creative and analytical skills
at work within a group activity.
There is no handout for this one but the lesson is
easy and remarkably effective. The idea originally came from Peter Rootham,
a math teacher, at North Grenville D.H.S. in Kemptville, Ontario.
Divide the class into groups. Each group will decide on the percentage
of blame for the killing of Duncan. You'll be surprised at the percentages;
Lady Macbeth will probably get over 50% and Duncan about 5%. Give each
group some markers and a sheet of chart paper and have them do a pie graph
of the percentage of blame and then give an oral presentation to the class.
You'll get some lively debate and they'll understand the play a lot better.
I have a feeling that most of you have probably
thought of this already. The idea is simple -- small groups of students
pick a section of the play, re-write it using any period and setting that
they want, and then dramatize the scene in front of the class (or on video
tape). Here's my version...
This assignment by Lorne Warwick who teaches in Ancaster,
Ontario uses a study of Macbeth to tackle the task of writing a comparison/contrast
in his grade 11 class. Lorne sent along a very complete set of instructions
which are appended to the top of the handout. He can reached at Lorne
Warwick <lorne.warwick@hwcn.org>
Julius Caesar and History Newspaper Assignment
What were the major newspaper stories before
and after Julius Caesar's death? This is the question which a class
must answer after reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and studying
the history of the era. Brad Coltrane teaches English to grades
6-8 at Advent Episcopal Day School in Birmingham, Alabama and "this project
came from my recent efforts to integrate my curriculum with the other teachers
at my grade level." He has also used it for Romeo and Juliet.
Brad is at coltrane@advent.pvt.k12.al.us
Analytical Shakespeare Quotations
A good way to test your students' comprehension of a play and develop analytical thinking skills is to have them analyze quotations from a Shakespearean play. This should always be done AFTER the play has been studied. The big problem is combing the play to find the appropriate quotes. Well, I did some of the work for you and have my handouts for several plays.
Whom do your students idolize or want to be like? This is an assignment that developed from studying Robertson Davies' Fifth Business. It seems like fun, but it actually requires careful thinking and the application of ideas. It's suitable for most secondary grades and levels.
Mythology Review Using Poetry and Creative Writing
This is a lesson originally designed for Grade 9 Advanced
students but it works well for senior levels as well. If your students
have trouble remembering the names of all of those mythical heroes and
you want a good writing assignment, this is the lesson. It uses poetry
and creative writing to foster recall and understanding. Submitted by Kara
Bettencourt, St. Bonaventure High School, Ventura California katmandu@west.net
Greek Myths, Oedipus, Antigone ... and Star Wars
John Hoben is an English and
History education student at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland.
He has also come up with a two current and intriguing lessons which should
prove interesting and demanding for senior students. Both lessons
use "The Return of the Jedi" to teach "timeless humanistic themes expressed
through a culturally responsive drama". I have put both lessons on the
same page for convenience but you can easily separate them. John also has
a lesson for teaching poetry using "Stairway
to Heaven" on the Poetry Page. You can reach John at jhoben@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
Antigone-- Screenplay Assignment
Judi Wyatt is a Canadian teacher who teaches
at the American School in Lima, Peru. She has submitted a rather
demanding assignment for Sophocles' Antigone which should test your
students' creative and analytical skills. The lesson is also very
adaptable for your particular class' abilities and knowledge. You can reach
Judi at jdwyatt@amauta.rcp.net.pe
Allusion in Thornton Wilder's Skin of Our Teeth
Allusion can be a difficult concept to teach
but this lesson makes it not only easier to understand but interesting
as well. The person to thank for this highly adaptable approach is Beverly
Lucey who now resides in Georgia after teaching in Massachusetts for many
years. She can be reached at SwampDuffy@aol.com
Making a Movie Based on a Short Story
This is another
lesson from Beverly Lucy and the short story the move is based on is “Brother
Carlyle” by William Melvin Kelly, although you could adapt the assignment
for any short story.
Hester Prynne and Monica Lewinsky -- shunning in society.
Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter can
be compared to Monica Lewinsky and many other real life people who have
been "shunned" by society. Marli Janata, who teaches at Lyndhurst
High School in New Jersey, uses this lesson in her grade eleven class and
involves them in reading the novel and researching a modern counterpart.
Marli is at shwampy@ix.netcom.com
This lesson was originally designed to be used with a grade 10 honours English class in the study of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe but it is very adaptable for many other literary works. Thanks for the lesson go to Janis Little who teaches at Hunters Lane High School in Nashville, Tennessee. She can be reached at arlittle@bellsouth.net
How would Beowulf have made out if he actually had to defend himself in an American court? Your class can learn a lot about the story, the legal system, and their abilities to play roles in this demanding lesson from Jill Kaliher who teaches at Hillcrest Christian School in Granada Hills, California. The handouts include all instructions, assignments, and a glossary and details of a courtroom procedure. Jill is available at jillkal@earthlink.net
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